Bey Hamam, alternatively known as the "Baths of Paradise", is a

Turkish bath A hammam ( ar, حمّام, translit=ḥammām, tr, hamam) or Turkish bath is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited ...

house located along Egnatia Street in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

, east of

Panagia Chalkeon The Church of Panagia Chalkeon ( el, ) is an 11th-century Byzantine church in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. The church's well-preserved Byzantine architecture and testimony to the importance of Thessaloniki in early and medieval Chris ...

History

Built in 1444 by sultan Murad II, it was the first Ottoman bath in Thessaloniki and the most important one still standing throughout

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. For this reason, it is a part of those few important vestiges of Ottoman culture remaining in Thessaloniki and Greece in general. It is a double bath, with two separate parts for men and women. The male quarters are the most spacious and luxurious, but each one follows the same tripartite plan - a succession of three parts, the cold, tepid, and hot rooms. A large rectangular

cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...

flanks the baths to the east and guarantees their water supply. The baths for the men include a large octagonal cold room, with a gallery resting on columns, arcades surrounding their windows, and a painted cupola. It is followed, in south-east, by the tepid room, also octagonal, equipped with a cupola with occuli and with a rich series of painted depictions of plants. Further to the east lies the complex of hot rooms, ordered around a large cruciform room, wherein the massage table might always be found, standing, now as ever, in its centre. Eight small hot and tepid rooms open on this space and are equipped with basins and marble benches. The baths remained in usage, under the name "Baths of Paradise", up until 1968, where they were leased to the Greek archaeological service for four years. After the

1978 Thessaloniki earthquake The 1978 Thessaloniki earthquake ( el, Μεγάλος Σεισμός της Θεσσαλονίκης) occurred on 20 June at . The shock registered 6.5 on the moment magnitude scale, had a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of V ...

, which shook Thessaloniki especially hard, the baths were restored, and are used to this day for cultural events and short-lived exhibitions. Meanwhile, the eastern annex became the principal shop of the Foundation of Archaeological Receipts of the

Hellenic Republic Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture and Sports ( el, Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και Αθλητισμού) is the government department of Greece entrusted with preserving the country's cultural heritage, promoting the arts, and overseeing sp ...

Gallery

Image:THES-Bey Hamam entrance.jpg, Entrance to the male quarter of the baths Image:THES-Bey Hamam cool chamber.jpg, Cold room of the male quarter Image:THES-Bey Hamam tepid chamber 1.jpg, Tepid room of the male quarter Image:THES-Bey Hamam tepid chamber 2.jpg, Cupola with occuli in the tepid room of the male quarter Image:THES-Bey Hamam tepid chamber 3.jpg, Cupola with occuli in the tepid room of the male quarter Image:THES-Bey Hamam hot chamber 1.jpg, Hot room of the male quarter Image:THES-Bey Hamam hot chamber 2.jpg, Hot room of the male quarter Image:THES-Bey Hamam hot chamber 3.jpg, Hot room of the male quarter

References

* {{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1444 Ottoman architecture in Thessaloniki Ottoman baths in Greece 15th-century architecture in Greece